by Issy Brooke
“Nothing.” He lowered his gaze. “Nothing as far as I know, but I don’t know her.”
“I thought everyone knew everyone in a small town,” she teased. “You said you knew my business. You knew about Francine coming to stay.”
Drew shrugged again. “Yes and no. Honestly, I try to stay out of the gossipy stuff. It’s easier.”
No, she thought, I reckon you’ve been taking an interest in … me. Huh. She pushed the thought aside. It wasn’t entirely unwelcome but it wasn’t quite comfortable. She said, “So you won’t have heard that Mary’s car has been repossessed? She’s having money troubles, apparently.”
“That’s a shame,” he said, with a look of empathy on his face. “I know what it’s like. She’s not on your list of suspects, is she?”
“Not at the top, no.”
“Who is at the top? Not that I am interested or condone your meddling in any way,” he added hastily, with a forced frown that was utterly unconvincing.
Aha! She thought in triumph. You’re snared, just like me. And everyone else. “I don’t know. Edwin Montgomery was a suspect but I have heard that he has been questioned and the police have completely taken him out of their enquiries. And that’s very odd because he does have a history of sabotage and he’s an electrician and he has a motive because he hates farmers and he particularly hated David Hart. So…”
“He must have an alibi then. They will have a time of death by now. I trust the police to sort it out. As should you.”
“I wish I could get my hands on the facts that the police have!” she said in frustration.
“Why? Do you think you could do better? They have expertise and technology and experience.”
“Yes, but I have an enquiring mind,” she insisted. “That counts for something, right?”
She could tell from the expression on his face that it counted for very little. He said, “Don’t let it get to you.”
She had never told him exactly why she had felt she had to leave London. The truth was, that she had let many things “get to her” and it had started to affect her life, both personally and professionally. Not that she had had much of a personal life.
The stress had started to do things to her mind, and her body. The blood pressure, the headaches, the dizzy spells, and strange mood swings. She decided to keep it to herself.
She wasn’t ashamed – not exactly – but the person she’d been, the past few years, wasn’t the “real” Penny. She’d become something else.
She was here in Upper Glenfield to reclaim the real Penny. That was the only Penny that she wanted Drew to see.
Not that she wanted or needed to impress Drew, though, she reminded herself sternly. All it was … all it was … she just didn’t want him to think she was a bit pathetic, that was all.
She felt the negative thought and stamped on it. Not pathetic. Just … lost.
“Are you okay?” he asked in concern.
“Yes, fine. I’m just thinking. I know that David’s brother Thomas lives with his wife Eleanor here in Upper Glenfield.”
“You have done a lot of investigating!” He folded his arms in mock annoyance. She thought it was mock, at any rate.
“No, I just went to have my hair done at Agatha’s salon. I didn’t meddle. Information happened to come to me while I was being styled.”
Drew looked embarrassed but she interrupted him before he could say anything. “No, don’t tell me that my hair looks nice, because I know you didn’t notice, and it wasn’t really a drastic enough style that anyone should notice.”
“Sorry. You would have thought my mum would have trained me better.”
Penny laughed at his contrite expression. “Anyway. So were, or are, Eleanor and Mary good friends?”
Drew shook his head. “I have no idea, seriously. I don’t know Eleanor at all, and I only know Mary by sight. And reputation.”
“Ugh. I was hoping you’d have great insight.”
“Sorry. Can I make it up to you by walking Kali, instead?”
“Oh, go on then.”
“Cheers.”
She watched him leave, the dog by his side, and felt funny. It was a domestic sort of scene and one that was unfamiliar to her in so many ways.
* * * *
Some pixies or goblins had broken in overnight and healed her ankle. When Penny woke up on Thursday morning, she felt miraculously better. Enforced rest had finally done the trick. She strapped her ankle up carefully, but by lunchtime she felt bold enough to take Kali for a walk. She was armed with lots of chopped ham and the head-collar.
She still went straight for the lonelier paths, however, rather than chancing the busy town centre. She followed what she remembered of the route she’d taken on Sunday with the ramblers. She made Kali walk to heel while they were on the pavement and the road, with sudden turns and stops and waits to keep the dog focused. Once they were on the bridleway, Penny slackened off the lead and Kali plunged into the vegetation at the side, her tail thrashing from side to side as she was inundated by thousands of scents and smells.
It’s Facebook for dogs, Penny thought as Kali spent forty seconds sniffing a small patch of grass. There’s some dog’s status update there, all conveyed through the pungent medium of pee. Eww.
She kept an eye out for other walkers. Another person meant potentially other dogs, and many would let theirs off-lead. She didn’t quite know what she’d do if another dog came running at Kali. Would she still be able to hold her back with the head-collar? She felt hot and anxious as she replayed some disaster scenes in her head.
“Leave it!” she said out loud, and Kali stopped and looked up at her, her brow furrowed.
“Sorry,” she said to the dog. “I meant me, not you.”
They walked on. The edges of this section of the bridleway were bordered on the left by an impressive hedge, and on the right by a wooden fence. The hedge grew taller and thicker as they went along, and the bridleway up ahead curved around to the left, snaking behind the bushes and shrubs.
She was always nervous when approaching a part of the path where visibility was reduced. She slowed, and Kali seemed to feel the tension travel down the lead, because her ears flattened and her eyes rolled.
Penny realised that she was making the dog more reactive. She took a deep breath and relaxed her grip on the lead. “Come on, girl,” she said in an artificially cheery voice.
Of course, it was then inevitable that as she rounded the corner, she would be faced with someone coming the opposite way. She hauled on the lead in panic, which meant Kali lunged forward eagerly.
But it was only Ed, and he had no dog. Her hot fear turned to a wash of relief that felt like cold sweat on her back.
“Hi, Penny,” he said. “Oh! What a lovely dog.”
It still amused her that having a dog was such a conversation starter with people. And it made a refreshing change from the usual conversation that inevitably followed: “aargh, a Rottweiler!” She smiled, and said, “Thank you. This is Kali. She’s a bit bad-mannered,” she added in apology as Kali pressed right up to Ed, stopping just short of planting her muddy paws on his legs.
“No, she’s adorable! You could have brought her with you on our walk last Sunday. How’s your ankle, by the way? It’s good to see you up and about.”
He spoke to the dog, rather than to her. She said, “It’s a lot better but I’ve spent the last few days just lying on my sofa. This is the first time I’ve been out on it, properly.”
“I’m glad to hear you’re better. It was a nasty tumble. I hope it hasn’t put you off.”
“No, not at all. I will certainly come again.” She marvelled at the ice-breaking properties of Kali. The previous encounter between them had been wiped away; Ed was talking with her quite sociably. Albeit without looking at her.
“Excellent,” he said.
She felt bolder now she had Kali with her, and Ed seemed quite approachable. She took a breath and plunged in. She decided she would simply confront h
im straight out. “David Hart was electrocuted to death, and you’re an electrician who didn’t like him. And I know you were questioned by police and released. I’m really curious, though. You’re not a suspect and that’s great. But…”
Oh. Oh no. She could hear what she was saying as if from a great distance away, and it was all wrong. She would have crammed the words back into her mouth if she could. Ed stopped petting Kali, and rose to his feet, his fists clenched. Kali picked up on the tension in his body and retreated to Penny, sitting on her foot and facing Ed, a low growl warning him to stay away.
“Do you think I killed him?” he asked in a low voice.
“I – er, obviously not, because, er, yeah, so I wouldn’t ask a killer if he is a killer when we were out alone in the countryside because that would be stupid,” she gabbled, thinking, I am so stupid. I am the Queen of Stupid.
“And hang on one minute,” Ed continued. “How did you know I’d been questioned? That’s a breach of trust. Who told you?”
“No one. I mean, I’ve been really nosey and I’m sorry and I shouldn’t have and…” And don’t kill me, she added privately.
Ed’s face was ashen white, and his fists were blotchy, hanging by his sides. He half-turned away, his lips in a snarl.
Then he sagged at the shoulders and kicked at the ground, like a sulky teenager. “You’re just the sort of person with time on their hands and a sense of entitlement that you won’t let it go, will you? You’ll dig and dig. So let me save you some time. Yeah, they took me for questioning. Of course they did. I have a record, don’t I? I’m constantly being punished for believing that the Earth deserves better care than we give it. Whatever.” He swore under his breath. “The thing is … I was involved in a group and we were really passionate about what we did. We believed that we had to act to make things better. And you know what? I still believe that.”
She didn’t dare speak even though he had paused to glare at her. She nodded slowly.
“Right,” Ed said. “But this group went too far. Now me, I believe all life is sacred. All life,” he said meaningfully. “I wouldn’t take a life. But the others, they had a hierarchy and they thought that we were literally in a war, and that in a war, it was okay if people got hurt. Or worse.”
“So what happened…?”
Ed started to pace around them. Kali watched him warily. “I turned grass. I became an informer. I fed information back to the authorities because although I believed in the group’s aims, I hated their methods.”
“Oh my goodness.” He really was some kind of eco-warrior, she thought.
He stopped abruptly, right by her shoulder, and whispered, “And that’s why I’m here, all right? I’m lying low because right now, people are in prison because of me. And I’d really rather you didn’t gossip about that, thank you very much.”
She took a step back, gaping at him. “I won’t. I promise.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You promise? I don’t know you. I don’t know if your promise means anything.”
“I feel awful. I am so sorry. It does mean something.”
“You feel awful? Tough luck. You went digging in things you didn’t ought to have dug in, so I don’t care if you feel awful or not. I do care if you end up blabbing and putting my life in danger.”
“I won’t. I absolutely won’t. I respect you. Is there anything I can do?”
He started to walk away, but called back over his shoulder. “Yeah. Keep your mouth shut.”
She would.
* * * *
Penny walked back to her cottage feeling thoroughly chastened. Kali picked up on it through her body language, and mirrored it in her own, slouching along with her head held low and the lead slack between them.
She longed to tell Cath what she’d learned about Ed. After all, Cath was curious about why he’d been so summarily dropped from the list of suspects. Now Penny knew, and she couldn’t share it with Cath. And that felt like she was betraying Cath’s confidence in her.
And did she have a duty to share it with the detective constable? But if Cath’s superiors did not see fit to share the details with the others, then Penny didn’t have the right, either.
It was a mess. Drew had been right. She should stay out of it all. Now she understood what he meant about it being easier if you kept yourself to yourself.
She let herself into her cottage and unsnapped the lead. Kali bounded through to the kitchen and a moment later, Penny heard her lapping at her water bowl. Penny remained in the hallway, still wearing her coat and boots.
The cottage was quiet. Quiet and empty.
The more she dealt with other people, the more she realised she was alone. For a second, she wondered if the answer was to simply become a complete hermit.
No, that was nonsense. She bent to unlace her boots and thought about Ed, though her memory of the encounter made her bristle with shame. She really had acted like a twit. He was an admirable character, in spite of his oddities. Penny tried to imagine being so passionate about the environment that she would join a group and fight for it.
It was a great idea but such a commitment, and she was lazy. She knew it. Most people were. Ed’s drive was inspiring.
There were smaller ways to give back to the community or the land, she thought. All I do is take. I need to get involved in things and that way I’ll be a positive member of society and I’ll meet more people. The ramblers’ group is just the start. Maybe there is a litter-picking group somewhere. Or I could go on those weekends where you learn hedge-laying. Or volunteer somewhere. A soup kitchen, perhaps?
Are there homeless people in the countryside? To her shame, she realised she didn’t know.
There’s poverty, though, she thought. I’ve seen that. The thin people who wait for the clearance food to be marked down in the mini-market. Little signs. She prised her boots off and dumped her jacket on the post at the bottom of the stairs.
She thought again about the murder case. If I get to know people and get involved in a properly altruistic way, then they will be more likely to open up to me, and I can find David Hart’s murderer! She then thought that her motives might not be entirely altruistic. Did that matter? It was all about the end result, after all.
Perhaps. Something niggled at her, something in the conversation she’d had with Ed, something about action and end results.
Something important.
She pushed it out of her mind as Kali padded back through to see why she was still standing in the hallway.
“I’m coming,” she told the dog.
She went to the kitchen and looked at the mess of paperwork on the kitchen table. She’d drawn up a list of suspects while she’d been bored and inactive. She believed Ed and what he said about his history, but wasn’t going to be too hasty and take him completely off the list. She just moved him to the bottom.
This put Thomas Hart, the estranged brother, right at the top.
I need to find out about him, she thought. So that means I need to make friends with his wife, Eleanor. And probably her friend Mary, too. Everyone’s been pretty disparaging about Eleanor’s snootiness, so Mary might be the easier woman to get to know.
And that will allay any suspicion about my motives, too, she thought in triumph. It will look more natural if I become friends with Mary and then Eleanor, rather than going straight at Thomas – like I did with Ed.
And I know just how I can meet up with Mary. I know exactly where she is likely to be, socially.
She felt quite pleased with herself then.
“See,” she told the dog. “I’m learning, aren’t I?”
Chapter Eleven
On Friday afternoon, Penny gathered up her sketches and her watercolours, and stacked them neatly in a newly-purchased portfolio case. Kali watched her from a corner of the living room.
“Don’t you start as well,” Penny said. The dog’s expression was almost reproachful. Penny knew she was projecting her own internal doubts onto her, but even so, it was unset
tling.
Kali licked her lips and turned away.
Penny sighed and tucked a tin of pencils into the outside pocket of the portfolio case. When she’d got back from the morning walk, her mobile phone had been ringing from where she’d left it on the table in the kitchen; it had been Francine.
Francine had sounded delighted that Penny was off to the local craft group in the community hall.
“Do you know anyone there?” Francine asked.
“No. I saw the poster in the mini-market. I hope to meet Mary and … oh, well, you know. New people.”
Francine was immediately suspicious of Penny’s motives. “Who is Mary?”
“Just someone I’d like to get to know better…”
“Oooh!” Francine squealed in excitement. “You’re prying into the murder thing, aren’t you? Have they not found anyone yet?”
“No. And I’m not prying. I’m a concerned citizen. And I’m just trying to make friends.”
“How exciting! Is Mary a suspect? Who was she, in relation to the farmer?”
Penny was torn between wanting to share her suspicions with someone who was interested, and wanting to keep it private and her own little secret. “She was his girlfriend. Look, I do have to go …”
“Phone me later! Tell me everything! And thank you for the hamper. You shouldn’t have.”
“It was nothing. Okay, okay, I will call you, okay.”
Penny turned her phone to silent and shoved it into her pocket. Francine’s exuberance did make her smile. Would Penny be as keen to pursue the murderer if Francine hadn’t encouraged her?
She was certainly helping Penny to reclaim her lost youth.
She put her musing aside. She had a mission! “I’m off now,” she told Kali. “You be good.”
* * * *
The community hall was a long, low building on the east side of town, on Back Street which ran behind the church. At the end of Back Street the road turned at a funny angle to follow along the river. Opposite to the river were three long straight roads, with a late 1900s look about the rows of terraces. It was the sort of scene that needed cobbles on the street and washing strung across from house to house, rather than shiny new cars and satellite dishes.